Obama Uses ‘Soft Power’ to Quiet Critics, Move Agenda

President Barack Obama signs an executive memorandum surrounded by young men who participate in Chicago’s “Becoming A Man” program during an event at the White House Feb. 27.

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When President Barack Obama remarked on the obvious last month – that he has a pen and a phone – his intent was to convey a sort of bluster about his willingness to accomplish his agenda without Congress. The reaction from Republicans was a mix of criticism that Mr. Obama had given up on legislating and, more pointedly, that he was threatening to overreach his authority.

The latter critique has pretty much quieted, and Mr. Obama’s latest use of executive power, announced Thursday, suggests why.

And, as Chris Lehane, who worked for President Bill Clinton, said: “There’s almost no business, no entity, no individual who won’t show up if they’re called and asked to come to the White House.”

Since vowing in his State of the Union address in January to use his executive authority more aggressively than he had in his first term, Mr. Obama has unveiled several initiatives in the same vein as My Brother’s Keeper. He got business leaders to commit to helping the long-term unemployed. And he and first lady Michelle Obama gathered college presidents at the White House to devise ways to make higher-education more affordable to low-income students.

None of the moves drew partisan fire.

That’s because they don’t significantly expand government. They don’t add to the federal budget. And they focus on topics that liberals and conservatives can support.

“While there may not be much of an appetite in Congress for sweeping new programs or major new initiatives right now, we all know we can’t wait,” Mr. Obama said Thursday. “And so the good news is folks in the private sector who know how important boosting the achievement of young men of color is to this country, they are ready to step up.”

The president also gave a nod to the innocuousness of the program, noting that if he can persuade conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and liberal Rev. Al Sharpton to support the same thing “then it means that there are people of good faith who want to get some stuff done, even if we don’t agree on everything.”

Senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said to expect many more “soft power” initiatives this year. The idea is for Mr. Obama to focus them on the main theme he hit in his State of the Union: expanding economic opportunity. Next up is likely to be one on early-childhood education.

“In the era of skepticism about government, public-private partnership is something that’s very appealing to folks,” Mr. Pfeiffer said.

It’s also something that gives Mr. Obama the perception of accomplishment and keeps him out of the crosshairs — and has the makings for a post-presidency agenda, and Mr. Obama’s top aides have said he plans to focus on elevating young black and Latino men after leaving office.

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